= 5.83 months at Wave 1) followed across five annual waves. We analyzed data from Waves 1 to 5 of Project MEDIA, capturing both between- and within-person effects over time. Results showed that higher maternal depression correlated with lower parenting efficacy and higher PMU. Depression remained relatively stable across 5 years, whereas PMU and parenting efficacy fluctuated. Within-person analyses revealed that increases in maternal depression predicted decreases in parenting self-efficacy, but neither depression nor efficacy significantly predicted PMU. These findings suggest that while maternal depression undermines parenting self-efficacy, additional factors may explain its connection to PMU. Further research is needed to clarify these pathways and inform intervention strategies. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).
Holmgren et al. (Thu,) studied this question.